Any knot you choose will work better if you double the braid.
Forum: rodboard

Difficult to believe anyone puts any credibility into TackleTour reviews. Look at all the advertising and that should make it clear that objectivity is thrown out of the window. Then all the shills that post to push products, not to mention the experts that fish 5 times per year. On the bright side, it is good for a laugh at least once a week. Oh well, you decide.
Forum: rodboard

A little more info is required. What size line, hook, how much structure/weed, average size of fish, for fun or tournament action. I throw weightless worms all the time but my stuff is typically much lighter.
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Phenix IronFeather
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That blank is a beast and longer than most use for trolling. United Composites makes great blanks and has something that will work. The CP70H would be my choice.
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Everything you add to a quality blank dampens it's action and therefore, the sensitivity of the finished rod. If a 22 reel seat is what you need to be comfortable, use smaller arbors, don't fill the empty space with useless epoxy. Use light weight guides, fewer of them, shorter wraps and lighter finish. Look at the foregrip and the butt grip to reduce weight. Do everything you can, the rest is ou
Forum: rodboard

My opinion is that size 4 running guides are perfect and for casting 2 grams, a more moderate taper should work better than a typical SJ taper. Think slower casting stroke. Understand that this impacts your ability to fight larger fish, if that happens during your pursuit of the little ones. I cast 1 gram stuff easily with a 3 weight fly rod blank and 3-4 pound Stroft mono.
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I will second the recommendation of a back bouncing blank. Some are 8', so casting is still somewhat pretty and the heavy ones could lift fish. I have 3 sitting in a corner from the old days that were done on Loomis blanks. Lots of big fish, only one not released and that was a 103 pound yellowfin that we could not revive. Broke my heart for that beautiful creature to die.
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Michael, Sorry, I have never handled those blanks.
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Tom, You must know that I have done this, many times. If I wanted to know which spinning/casting rod was best to cast a 9 weight fly line, I would have the relative measurements. Sorry, not what I need. I simply know better. You can have the last word.
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Tom, Assurances are lost on me when I am on the other side of the fence. Again, we will need to agree to disagree.
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Good feedback from Herb. 14-16 weight depending on average size of the fish, really big fish will need more. Length is a tougher question, longer make casts easier, if we even call them casts. Shorter makes lifting easier, especially if fish have lots of water under them. Big fish that seek refuge in 2,000 feet of water can be a challenge to move. Reel is a much more important than the reel seat,
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Tom, You will be waiting another 12 years looking for your unicorn. We agree that CCS intends to measure action, power and speed. It tells me a great deal about a specific weight fly rod blank and how it will handle that weight line or a particular taper of that line or others. It is valuable to determine rod blank characteristics that are desirable for casting tools. Where we part is that
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Gentlemen, At this point, I believe it is best to agree to disagree. I have done enough of my own testing to have formed a definitive opinion. I have no desire to convert anyone. I understand the 10% rule. I understand it is not handle length. It is a standardized support point. However, work backwards for a moment. Typical fly rods are 108 inches, 10% is approximately 11 inches. 7 inches
Forum: rodboard

James, Familiar with the 10% rule. Been quite awhile since I saw a 8 1/2 inch handle on a bass or inshore rod.
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Tom, Don't want to argue with you. This is your forum, your rules. However, to insist that CCS is perfect ignores the obvious. For many rods, the blank length behind the foregrip/reel seat is significantly affected and should be considered in a proper manner. With a fly rod, that impact is minimized. It makes a bigger difference with freshwater/bass rods and is something that should not be ign
Forum: rodboard

Tom, Then maybe it's time for another across the board system where a working length standard is established based on total blank length. It would not be perfect in every application but then again, neither is CCS.
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The numbers will most likely never match since the systems doing the measurement are different. CCS is the standard here on this forum, so I will not debate it's merits. All rods have handles, very few fishermen use a rod blank without one. If the manufacturers were going to have a paradigm shift and institute a system to standardize measurements, that system should include the concept of wor
Forum: rodboard

Sorry, you are mixing apples and oranges. I agree, adding weight kills the sensitivity of any rod but fly rods are not instruments where sensitivity is a big priority. Most are casting tools, feeling strikes is usually not very difficult. On a bass rod where sensitivity is an important attribute, guides should be light, wraps short and don't go crazy on the finish.
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Nothing. Used about 1/2 arbor up front, so it would not show and a full arbor at the back. Very comfortable and light weight. First reel seat on a rod for me in about 20 years, always had tennessee grips.
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Just had a 7'6" 3 weight fly rod built as a spinning rod. Used a KL-H 16, KL-6M and a LTSG 4 as the reduction train. All running guides are LTSG 4s. My priority was keeping the rod as lightweight as possible. My guide spacing is based on simple trig, which I presume is what GPS is all about. After I verify my angles, a quick mock up is all that is left. This rod is a 2 piece and has the firs
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Steve, No pictures but would be happy to discuss the details.
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I just had a 3 weight fly rod that is 7'6" built as an ultralight spinning rod. No foregrip, a Fuji TVSTK reel seat with cork on the nut, split grip to a cork butt grip, total length 9 1/2 inches. Using a Shimano Vanquish 1000S loaded with 4 pound mono, the rod balances just in front of the reel seat. This is where I like things to be. After some time, you get very good at estimating these t
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Remember, much of casting distance is predictated by line size and choice. Try some Stroft 4 pound test mono and see if your 13 meters doesn't get better.
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Try a 3 weight fly rod blank.
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I rarely fish anything heavier than 4 pound test in shallow water. I have played with PE .03 lines for offshore work in LSC and Erie and deeper areas of Pickwick. A soft tip works, however the blank needs to lock up to work bigger fish. I depend on light wire hooks rather than the rod for hook sets. CCS/RDA numbers would help but ultimately, building a rod may be the best answer.
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Most of my recent fishing is for smallmouth. My tackle is usually lighter than most. Living in Florida, 2 piece rods are better to travel with.
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Anyone have any numbers on the current St Croix blanks, 5S66LF2-G and 5S66MLF2-G? Thanks.
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Tom, thanks for the sanity check.
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Went to a yard sale. Saw a rod from the old days, built by a place I knew very well, Uslan Rods. A spinning rod with what I always called "Foulproof" guides. Look like they were cloned and are now called Recoils. Certainly, Recoils are made from better materials but what is the fascination?
Forum: rodboard